Background

Rees Anderson was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in a family of 10 children. Her father was in the FBI, and the family moved frequently. She has lived in Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, California and Utah. She says that frequent moving taught her to make friends easily.

She describes her parents as hard working and says they instilled that ethic in their children. When she borrowed money from her dad to buy a car in college, he made her sign a notarized loan with compounded interest.

Education

"I came to BYU to get my 'Mrs.' degree and managed to get that quite quickly," Amy says. "Typical Utah story."

Career

When Rees Anderson was 24, she had two small children and wanted to work from home. She obtained the license to sell and install scheduling and records software in doctors' offices.

"Her entry into the venture world began in her provincial garage," said Tim Layton, managing partner with Sorenson Capital, at a recent gathering for the MountainWest Capital Network's Entrepreneur of the Year award, which Rees Anderson received. "She started with $23,000 and conviction."

As Rees Anderson sold the software, she became frustrated by its limitations. She tried to acquire the rights to change the software, but was unsuccessful, and then hired computer programmers to design a new Web-based software program.

She eventually moved from a house filled with programmers at kitchen tables and living room sofas to their own place after raising $12 million a few years later, Layton said.

She sold the company in 2002.

Rees Anderson says she learned about venture capital through the Internet. While she got her first $23,000 from family, the next round came from "e-blasting" anyone and everyone she found on the Internet. Since then, venture capital has come through networking.

Through connections in Silicon Valley during the dot-com boom, Rees Anderson met people from all over the world.

"I became friends with a lot of people from there, and they're very good networkers, and the next thing I knew, I was getting calls from people from all over the place, including India."

Now Amy Rees Anderson is the Managing Partner and Founder of REES Capital, which she created to provide entrepreneurs and business executives' critical guidance and support to help their companies grow. In addition to seeking out opportunities for potential equity investments, Amy provides expert mentoring and consulting services across a broad range of business functions, including: leadership training; product and market assessment; marketing, sales and public relations strategy; financial modeling; organizational structuring; strategic planning; acquisition and exit strategy; and other key areas.

Rees Anderson was formerly the founder and CEO of MediConnect Global, Inc., a worldwide leader in medical record retrieval, digitization, and one of the largest cloud-based health information exchanges. Amy led all aspects of MediConnect's business, including a worldwide workforce of over 1,000 employees. Under her direction, the company achieved over 1500 percent growth. In March 2012, Amy successfully led MediConnect to being acquired by Verisk Analytics (VRSK) for over $377 million.

Amy is an active Angel Investor and she recently founded the IPOP Foundation, a charity focused on helping educate and mentor entrepreneurs. And, of course, Amy Rees Anderson is the founder of the REES (Recognizing & Empowering Entrepreneurial Success) Capital is an angel investment and advising firm that works in close collaboration with entrepreneurs and their investors and board members to drive company growth and maximize equity value through strategic direction and influence. REES Capital focuses its efforts on start-ups and high-growth companies. Based in South Jordan, Utah, REES Capital works with entrepreneurs and companies throughout the world.

Achievements

• Amy founded and managed several successful healthcare technology ventures. She began her first business in 1996 with only $23,000 in seed funding. Across her many entrepreneurial ventures, Amy has raised more than $70 million in investment capital.
  
  Amy has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Incorporated magazine, United States of America Today, Fast Company, Bloomberg Businessweek and many other national publications as a result of her many accomplishments. She is an in-demand public speaker and respected mentor, and she does entrepreneurship lectures at a number of universities.

• Amy currently serves on the boards of numerous organizations, including: Sundance Institute's Advisory Board; Chair of the Utah State Motion Picture Advisory Committee; Utah Capital Investment Corporation Board; Huntsman Cancer Foundation Executive Council; Utah Technology Council's Board of Trustees (UTC) ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE `description` = VALUES(`description`); the NACD Board Utah Chapter; the Leonardo Board; the Hale Centre Theatre Board; University of Utah National Advisory board for David Eccles School of Business, Center for Medical Innovation, and Technology Commercialization Board; UVU National Advisory Council; and Brigham Young University Founder's Board.

Religion

Anderson keeps her beliefs private, but she is very tolerant and honors all religions,

“I want all the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible”

Politics

Amy Rees Anderson keeps it private

Views

Quotations: "Everybody deserves somebody who makes them look forward to tomorrow."

“Don’t marry a man unless you would be proud to have a son exactly like him.”

"Always Act Like You're Wearing An Invisible Crown."

"It’s Never Too Late To Start A New Tradition."

Personality

Amy Rees Anderson is very encouraged, energetic and ambitious person.Through her contagious enthusiasm, Amy creates a sense of urgency that leaves audiences with a passion to get up and do something that will move them forward toward reaching their ultimate goals for life. Rees Anderson hasn't been afraid of the gender stereotypes imposed upon women. She's even embraced some controversial stereotypes. For instance, she doesn't hesitate to cry, and she flatters men. And she does it with a sense of humor.

Anderson very loves her family. She tries spend as much time as possible with her children.

And in all areas of her life( business or private life) she is guided by principles such as kindness, honesty, diligence, patience.Amy considers herself a happy womam and stands for peace in the world.

Quotes from others about the person

• Deseret News : "Amy Rees Anderson types fast, speaks fast and tells jokes fast."

Interests

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  Jeffrey Roy Holland
  
  Gordon Bitner Hinckley

Connections

Amy Rees Anderson has two children from first marriage. In 2007 she remarried

grandmother:

Helen Rees

"She left me with a great maiden name of Rees, which I have, and do, try to honor by living a life of integrity. She also left me with the inheritance of a great example. She was a dynamo! She had all the energy in the world and when she set her mind to something there was no stopping her," says Amy Rees Anderson.

Ex-husband:

unknown

She was engaged when she was 19, married by the time she was 20, had her first child by age 21, and her second by age 23.

"By the age of 29, I was divorced," she says. "I had two kids and was on my own. It was a scary thing. I had to start over."

Son:

Dalton Anderson

Daughter:

Ashley Anderson

When her children were younger, she employed a nanny during the day, and she took care of them at night. She also frequently brought the kids to the office. They had little desks and kiddie telephones and "worked" while their mother worked.

"They're not the typical kids," she says, because they grew up around computers and office technology. She recalls an occasion when her daughter approached her with a piece of paper and said, "I drew a picture for Grandma. I want you to fax it to her because it will get there faster."

And despite wanting a more traditional path for her daughter, Rees Anderson knows that may not happen.

"My little girl, she's going to be a good little CEO some day," she says. "She learned to command the forces at a very young age, and she was never intimidated by anything, because she just grew up with that. She grew up walking around the office and pointing at what she wanted and getting it from most people. She's very tenacious, I would say, in a good way."

2d husband:

Rollin

Rees Anderson was a single mother for eight years before she remarried in 2007